An image conversion device is a physical device that converts one type of image to another. The image conversion device may be a device used for printing a real life or digital image on a substrate (e.g. a printer) or recording an image on screen (e.g. a display monitor) or transferring a physical image into digital means (e.g. a camera). Image conversion devices have been developed for many years for many applications. These devices employ a technology to transform an image from one form of representation to another. The technology may consist of various mechanical, chemical, electronic, and software means. The objective of the imaging is to obtain a transformed image that would represent the original image as accurately as possible.
Each imaging technology has its own process to produce the image. This process, when operating well (within predetermined tolerances), will produce the ideal image for the technology, as designed by the engineers. However, the process may not work within the tolerance and then the image will be distorted. The distortion may take many embodiments, and the image will be far from ideal.
In the process of designing an industrial product, and specifically, an image conversion device, there is often a need for simulating the operation of the product in order to be able to anticipate its performance without actually implementing it. By simulating an image conversion device it is possible to carry out the transformation of the input image and create an output image that will very much resemble the real output. This simulation may be carried out by software means.
By using a simulation, the designer of an image conversion device can test the putative design and check how the device will work under different working conditions. This process is very important in the design process as it saves a substantial amount of time and money on the design and manufacture of a model of the product. It makes possible the testing of the device under conditions that are difficult to realize on the real device.
An inkjet printer is an example of an image conversion device that uses a complicated process to transform a digital image into a printed image on a substrate. This process consists of software data processing, followed by an electro mechanic system that ejects ink drops onto the substrate in such a distribution so as to create an image on the substrate. The technological process of an inkjet printer is very complicated, and it is very difficult to link between various process parameters and the appearance of the printed image. A proper simulator can make this link by simulating the complete process.